Am I crazy? Did my phone ring? These questions may have crossed your mind during that moment when you look down at the top left corner of your cell phone and see the universal icon for new voicemail. Many marketers are now using or considering using ringless voicemail technology, or Direct-to-Voicemail cell messaging, to leave … Continue Reading

Can a seller contractually prohibit a customer from revoking his or her consent to receive autodialed and/or pre-recorded message calls under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)? According to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the answer is “yes.” On June 22, 2017, in Reyes v. Lincoln Automotive Financial Services, No. 16-2104 … Continue Reading

Lots of folks were wondering whether at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) it was “School’s Out” with a shortage of Commissioners and a new administration in the White House. A recent case involving the telemarketing of student loan debt relief services makes clear that, at least in certain areas, school is still in session. The … Continue Reading

The answer is that it may depend on where your case is filed. Some courts have said one may be enough. But, according to two recent decisions from New Jersey, one is not enough (sometimes) and neither is three, at least under the factual scenarios alleged in those cases. In Zemel v. CSC Holdings LLC, … Continue Reading

Some marketers move to Florida believing that the state’s constitutional Homestead Act protects their house from the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) grasp. A recent case shows that the FTC may not share that belief, and a federal judge recently agreed with the FTC. Sam J. Goldman tried looking for gold, but it didn’t pan out. … Continue Reading

On March 31, 2017, All About the Message LLC (AATM), filed a petition for a declaratory ruling before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), requesting that the FCC issue a rule that would declare that delivering a voice message directly into a consumer’s voicemail box does not constitute a “call” that is subject to the Telephone Consumer Protection … Continue Reading

Breaking up can be messy, whether you are the one doing the breaking up or the one being broken up with. And, we all know about the different ways to break up with someone. “It’s not you, it’s me . . .”, “I need space . . .”, “I’m washing my hair that year . … Continue Reading

Criminal charges against six individuals allegedly involved in a telemarketing scheme targeting elderly people were brought today by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. According to the Complaint, the defendants contacted elderly consumers with business opportunities requiring nothing more than a simple cash investment. The consumers were promised that they … Continue Reading

Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), businesses generally may not place an autodialed telemarketing call or a telemarketing call that delivers a pre-recorded message unless the recipient has provided his or her prior express consent to receive such a call. Recently, the Sixth and Ninth Circuits ruled on whether a business may place a … Continue Reading

In a development that many telemarketers will want to follow closely, the Soundboard Association (SBA) recently filed a complaint against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The SBA simultaneously asked the court to issue an injunction blocking the FTC from expanding the Telemarketing Sales Rule’s (TSR) … Continue Reading

The FCC was busy in November. On November 18, the FCC posted an Enforcement Advisory on robotexting and consumer protection, and on November 21 published a blog on robocalls. The FCC notes that the Advisory was issued to promote understanding of the clear limitations on the use of autodialed text messages, often referred to as … Continue Reading

When the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigates a case, it looks at it from the first contact the consumer has with a product or service through the end of the consumer experience. For many consumers, the first contact with a product comes through lead generation, where a “lead generator” tries to find consumers interested in … Continue Reading

On October 19, 2016, Judges Srinivasan, Pillard, and Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments in ACA International, et al. v. FCC, No. 15-1211, a consolidated appeal filed by various telemarketing industry members challenging a number of aspects of the FCC’s July 2015 Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) … Continue Reading

Caribbean Cruise Line Settlement (Revised 10/13) A Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) class action litigation, Birchmeier, et al. v. Caribbean Cruise Line Inc., et al., No. 1:12-cv-04069 (N.D. Ill.), has been winding its way through the court system for four years and finally settled this month. Caribbean Cruise Line and its co-defendants, who were sued … Continue Reading

Recently, there have been numerous cases dismissed because plaintiffs have treated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) like a business opportunity rather than as a consumer protection statute. Courts also have had to step in over the past several months to reign in plaintiffs’ counsel when it comes to their attorneys’ fees. Such is the … Continue Reading

TCPA Dismissal Raises More Questions Than It Answers The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey recently dismissed a putative class action alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) on grounds that the Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1). Yet, the one-page dismissal order leaves more … Continue Reading

At the outset of one of his most well-known novels, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Earnest Hemingway quoted part of a meditation from Seventeenth Century poet John Donne (from which the book is titled): No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the … Continue Reading

Last month, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued an opinion that serves as a powerful reminder of the risks of not taking telemarketing compliance seriously. In August 2014, the FTC sued the Partners in Health Care Association (“PIHC”), its principal Gary Kieper, and others for deceptively telemarketing medical discount cards. … Continue Reading

No, that headline wasn’t a typo. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), or more accurately the Department of Justice (DOJ) acting on behalf of the FTC, recently won a jury verdict in a case challenging a variety of telemarketing activity by three Utah-based firms and their owner. The jury found that the defendants made more than … Continue Reading

In the first federal appellate decision addressing Rule 68 offers of judgment for TCPA claims under the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure since the Supreme Court issued its decision in Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez, the Ninth Circuit has evaluated the potential avenues for defendants to moot a case by making a Rule 68 offer. In Chen … Continue Reading

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking comment on the disclosure, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements of its Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). The deadline for public comment is June 13, 2016. The FTC’s recent notice invites public comments on four issues: Whether the TSR’s disclosure, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements are necessary, and whether the resulting information … Continue Reading

Litigation surrounding the enforceability of website terms isn’t new. Indeed, back in 2014, we blogged about the Nyugen case. Yet, courts continue to grapple with the question of what constitutes an adequate disclosure and binds website visitors to the terms and conditions of a service agreement. Last month, the Seventh Circuit decided in Sgouros v. … Continue Reading

As the weather changes and I reach for the allergy medicine in my bottom desk drawer, I’m reminded of that old proverb, “March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers.” March winds also bring plenty of pollen and, apparently, a flurry of activity on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) front regarding what constitutes … Continue Reading

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